Somewhere in Between
by Cappucinno
Summary: AU. Darkness has fallen upon the land of Hyrule. Famine runs rampant and rebellion threatens to destroy what little semblance of order Hyrule has left. In the chaos, there exist only two people who are capable of bringing hope back to the dying land. But fate can be a fickle mistress that leads even the best of hearts astray. Zelink.
1. The Prologue

**Disclaimer**: These characters are not mine, nor is Hyrule, nor is Nintendo. Blah, blah, blah. I wish. I am not the artist who made the beautiful cover art, it was found on Zerochan and borrowed.

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**THE PROLOGUE  
**by Cappucinno

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**This story is set in an alternate universe, but draws heavily from the games Twilight Princess and Ocarina of Time. You may recognize characters, settings, and themes but the story itself is original and exists separately from any pre-existing game or familiar plot.**

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_Day 12 of the Harvest Month, Year of Nayru  
From Hyrule Castle, to be delivered to Kakariko_

_Dearest Zelda,_

_Things are not going well for Hyrule, I fear. _

_The entire land has been covered in shadows and darkness for weeks on end now; the people are beginning to fear that the goddesses have abandoned us. I try to believe otherwise, but it is becoming more and more difficult. The rainy season has come and our crops have all spoiled. Famine is slowly spreading across our once great land. _

_There are whispers in the palace of a foul plague, the likes of which have been contained to the smaller villages among the Hylian Fields. I worry for what this means._

_The Zora have vanished and the waters of the lakes and rivers have frozen over once more. The woods are thriving and I swear that every day they extend their borders just a little bit further, engulfing more of our world in darkness. _

_The Gorons too seem to have disappeared and the endless snowstorms plaguing the mountains has made it impossible for us to try and establish the meaning behind their sudden absence. _

_Relations with the Gerudo have been hostile as of late; there is reason to believe that we may have to declare war upon their tribes soon. Because of this the people are growing more and more restless with each passing day, but we are, for obvious reasons, extremely hesitant to make a decision as drastic as war so preemptively._

_The Order is more active than ever, Hyrule's very own group of vagabonds, and we are no more suited to deal with them now as we were four years ago. They are led by the mysterious man known only as the 'Hero' to the likes of us—a sacrilegious title, to be sure, likely meant to belittle us and the stories of old. _

_The fact that we have not yet identified a single one of the members of The Order makes it infinitely clear that we have no hope at this time of putting an end to their excessive and pillaging and plundering. _

_Even so, support for them is growing steadily as the conditions of Hyrule worsen; even the local militias do not bother to fend them off anymore. They are growing bolder as the days go by—but surely you have heard all this already, cousin? You do seem to know everything that goes on in Hyrule, after all._

_On a different note, just yesterday the Temple of Time was infiltrated and the Master Sword was stolen from its pedestal. I wouldn't be surprised if word of this has already reached you by the time you read this letter. _

_Perhaps the goddesses have truly abandoned us after all, for our people are quickly turning upon us. I fear a rebellion may be coming sooner than we are equipped to deal with._

_Take care of yourself, Zelda. I wouldn't want anything to happen to you. You are the next in line to succeed the throne after I am gone and you have made yourself an easy target by associating with us—the so-called enemies of the people—in these bleak days, and you are too far away for us to be able to readily extend proper protection for you. _

_We always did tell you not to move to the border, did we not? But did you listen? Of course not. Your love of the people always did overwrite your common sense, you silly girl._

_Please be careful._

_Perhaps it would do you best if you were to come and stay with us at the castle; you would at least be safer that way, if only for a small amount of time. Write me back, Zelda. I forbid you to let this letter be buried and forgotten under your mountains of paperwork, and that is an official decree, I swear, I'm writing in into the books with my other hand at this very moment: If I don't hear from you soon I shall come and drag you here myself. _

_That is a promise, Zelda._

_Yours truly,  
Midna Black_

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A faint sigh escaped Zelda's lips as she leaned her forehead against the tips of her fingers, massaging her temples. Her tired azure eyes swept over the worn and faded letter once more, one hand holding the upper portion of the parchment up to the dim rays of morning light that illuminated the dank gray clouds in the sky. The dark-stain of the wooden window frame had been faded slightly from exposure to copious amounts of sunlight in years long past, and as were the rugs and tapestries that decorated the Duchess Zelda Nohansen's estate.

It was a modest structure, so far as manors went, two stories tall and made entirely from wood and stone. The design was both elegant and modest, with a gray stone foundation and colonial architecture that far outshone the shabby and run-down structures that comprised the townspeople's homes, much to their chagrin and ceaseless complaint. The estate was situated on top of a hill overlooking the entirety of the town, with the forest at its back and a river within its boundaries—the ideal place in which to look over the small but unnaturally troublesome village of Kakariko.

Needless to say, the inhabitant of the estate was little different from the structure itself. Zelda Nohansen was a regal young woman with dark blonde hair and vivid blue eyes, and a wisdom that seemed to extend far past her mere twenty years. She was, perhaps, too refined and too aristocratic for the town that she presided over, a fact that she well knew had caused majority of the townspeople to form an initial disliking of her.

The manner of her work had mentally aged the young woman who had been so vibrant and fiery in her youth, making her into a mere ghost of her former self, all manners and diplomacy, refined in every possible manner, and lacking the spark that she had once been so well loved for.

Of course, she was aware that enforcing taxes and other such legislation had planted an unhealthy seed of hatred for her within the hearts of the townspeople. To be perfectly honest, Zelda wasn't sure whether they merely disliked _her_ or what she stood for.

She had a few select friends within the town, though on most days she was confined to her desk and unable to properly mingle. There was a kind woman named Telma who lived a little ways into town who would occasionally stop by to bring her food, a kind young girl named Aryll who insisted on calling her 'princess', and the darling Malon who happened to be an heiress and therefore in much of the same position as Zelda so far as public opinion went.

"The Master Sword, of all things." Zelda sighed, finally removing her eyes from her cousin's elegant scrawl and shifting her gaze to the window to observe the dark clouds that lingered over head.

Indeed, she had known most of the information her cousin had recently relayed to her, but to have it acknowledged by the Princess of Hyrule herself only served to make it more tangible than it had been before. The annual harvest had been sufficiently ruined, with all of the food having rotted on the vines or having been spoiled by the moisture. No doubt the full effects of the famine would soon reach Kakariko as well.

"I fear that you may not be wrong about that rebellion, dearest Midna." She sighed, shifting her gaze away from the window where crowds of people were gathering in the sodden streets below.

The blonde-haired young woman reached forward for her quill and dipped the chiseled tip into her inkwell, looking at her unfinished response once more. It had already been two days since she had received the letter and no doubt that Midna would make good one her promise if she did not receive a prompt response. With that in mind she set her quill to the page once more and began to write:

_Things are faring little better here at the borders than at the Castle, it would seem, for there is a riot forming in the streets as I write this to you now. For the time being we still have food leftover from the summer harvest, but I shall likely have to implement rations soon. You have already done the same, I trust? _

_You know full well that I cannot leave my post. This town was in shambles before my arrival here two years ago and should I leave once more I fear it will fall prey once more to the thieves and bandits running amok through the Hylian Fields. I shall try to come and see you all at the castle when things are a bit more stable in Kakariko. _

_And Midna, please exert some self-control and refrain from stationing a military regiment around Kakariko to protect me. I'll have you know that it took me months to repair my reputation with the townspeople. You would be amazed at the sheer force of their imagina—_

"Lady Zelda!" A voice called from outside the door of her study and the blonde looked sharply up the sudden intrusion.

With a slightly frustrated noise she scooted her oak and leather chair back from her paper-cluttered desk.

"Lady Zelda!" The voice called once more, followed by a series of frantic knocks.

A worried frown knit at her brows as she rose from her chair, gathering the heavy green material of her gown and her flimsy white shift with her as she did so, bunching up the fabric to her knees to swiftly make her way to the door.

"Malon?" She queried, swiftly undoing the locks on the door of her study and waiting for the response. "Malon, what is it?"

As the last lock was undone Zelda wrenched the door open, the small burst of wind from the action blowing through her hastily put-up hair and causing a few stray waves of golden-brown to fall around her face. She stopped as her eyes took in the figure in the doorway, a cloaked young man with chilling red-eyes.

"You—" Zelda began, taking a step backwards as she registered that Malon was no where in sight. "Who are you? What do you want?"

This triggered a laugh from the mysterious figure and his red-eyes crinkled slightly in amusement.

"What right do you presume to have that allows you to demand such things from me? And that _tone_. Tsk, tsk." He said in a casually calculating manner, and the implication of his words made Zelda's heart sink to her stomach.

He was, no doubt, one of the many who despised those with any authority in Hyrule, particularly those connected to the monarchy. But to have snuck so stealthily into her estate he could only have been an assassin or someone well trained in the arts of war, she quickly deduced as she took another step back.

As if reading her mind, the man shook his head.

"No, no, I am not here for such unpleasant matters."

Zelda tensed as she heard the floorboards creak under some unknown weight behind her and her eyes immediately sought out those red-ones once more, searching for some sign of apprehension. She found none, only a vague sense of amusement, and Zelda allowed herself to relax slightly, dismissing the creak as a product of her paranoid imagination. She dropped the material of her skirt and composed herself once more, meeting the stranger's red-eyed gaze defiantly, though her heart was beating loudly in her ears and her instinctive panic was rapidly overtaking her rational judgment.

"I apologize for being presumptuous, but what then is your purpose for having intruded upon—"

Zelda's words were cut off as the stranger laughed again, a sound that was fast beginning to grate on the Duchess's nerves.

"What…?"

"Well, _I'm_ not, fair Lady, but I never said that _they_ weren't."

That was all the warning that Zelda got before her mind registered a blinding pain and she felt herself falling forward into space. She could make out the silhouette of a tall man flanked by a female figure blocking out the light of the window. Angry shouts filled the usually quiet estate from the streets below and Zelda dimly registered that, yes, something was burning.

"Terribly sorry." Zelda managed to make of the whisper near her ear as she was caught before she hit the ground. "I'd really rather not have to do this."

Her world faded into black.

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**A/N**: This is just the prologue, so it is considerably shorter than the chapters to follow will be, and is purely to set the stage for the many chapters to come. I'm afraid if I write too much here I'll start to give things away, so I'll keep things short and concise. I have no idea how long this story will ultimately end up being, though I can tell you right now that it will likely be longer than fifteen chapters. Yes, I'm still writing both First and Foremost and The Days in February, but this was just a story that was begging me to be written.

Please let me know what you think in the form of a review or constructive criticism, either way, your response will be held dear in my heart. And it will inspire me to write more. Shameless? Me? Surely you jest.

Until next time,

Cappucinno


	2. Chapter One

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing, except for the plot and West.

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**CHAPTER ONE: THE CAPTURE**

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The fields of Hyrule were not a safe place for a man after dark. The re-dead came out at the sunset hours, sometimes as early as when the first bloom of orange hit the sky. Tonight was no different. Bodies were piled high outside of towns and bonfires lit the dark night sky. The funeral pyres burned constantly now, ever since the famine had hit central Hyrule. Starvation was a painful way to go, agonizingly slow. Those who died from the plague were spared the worst of starvation's effects, blessed with a week-long decay rather than one than spanned months.

A great gray wolf loped among the carnage, masked by the eerie shadows thrown off by the dancing flames. While a man could not survive the nightly hell of the Hylian fields, a beast could. Particularly one such as this.

Intelligence glittered in the eyes of the massive canine, eyes which bore a striking resemblance to the cobalt blue of a human's eyes. There was something calculating about the beast, a cleverness that wild beasts did not often possess. There was also something else unusual about the direwolf. Namely, the necklace looped around its neck and the massive gleaming sword that bounced upon its back. Unlike most wolves this one did not shy away from humans, or monsters, or the dancing flames of the field.

It moved towards the chaos purposefully, massive paws beating down upon the dying earth in a straight line as if responding to a call no one else could hear. A sharp whistle pierced the horrible silence of the fields and the beast's head turned, its path veering sharply to the right, earths pricked forward.

"Link! To me!" A sharp voice cried out.

The wolf jumped impossibly high, clearing a high-stacked funeral pyre in the space of a single long stride. When it's feet left the earth the beast jerked its head to the side, casting off the necklace, and in the time it took for the great animal to come down from the sky it vanished. A man's booted feet hit the ground, knees bending to take the shock, body rolling to use the momentum of the leap.

A sword flashed in the man's hand, a necklace wrapped firmly around his wrist, cobalt eyes searching the night even as he ran. Hyrule's Castle Town loomed in the distance.

Link found him surrounded by three Re-dead, a scimitar lashing out to fend the undead monsters off. Silent as the night's shadows Link struck, his blade glowing blue as it took the head off one of the beasts. A turn and he narrowly missed teeth sinking into his shoulder. Instead he grunted and dropped low, his leg tripping up the undead beasts and his sword swinging around to spear the thing through the chest. He turned to the third and found it already dead, for the second time.

"Sheik." His voice was hoarse as if it hadn't been used in a while. "Castle Town?"

The Sheikah shook his head, red eyes glowing faintly in the dark. As usual, a thick scarf covered the lower half of his face and a black cloak obscured his body.

"There's nothing left."

Link was silent, his eyes fixed grimly upon the walled fortress of Castle Town. The outpost by the castle bridge was untouched, its doors barred. It wasn't uncommon now. People barred themselves inside their own homes to discourage raiders and looters. It didn't matter if they starved to death inside, so long as they maintained the illusion of safety.

They would find no answers in Castle Town tonight.

He sheathed the still-glowing blade in a deceptively cheap scabbard, his hand covering the inlay on the blade's sheath. His Sheikah companion watched him wordlessly, his eyes giving nothing of his thoughts away. After a moment of still silence, Link turned and began to retreat silently across the Hylian fields.

After a moment, Sheik made to follow him.

"My people have kept their word, Link." There was an unvoiced demand in the Sheikah's voice, a silent question. _Will you keep yours?_

The warrior did not acknowledge that Sheik had spoken. He was occupied by his own silent demons, expression distant even as he expertly picked his way across the deadly Hylian fields. Once more, he responded to a call that no one else could hear.

_Quickly Hero. Time is short._

Link didn't know who she was, but he hastened lead by a nagging sense of urgency. He reached into the recesses of his mind, calling for the chaos that bubbled in his veins and closed his eyes. He reached out with his mind, reaching over countless miles and obstacles, touching upon a consciousness separate from his own.

_Yes, Hero. You must go to them. The land dies. We need more time._

Link felt the man's pain as he _pulled _on the very fiber of his being, demanding obedience. Behind him Sheik suddenly winced in sympathetic pain, a hand flying to head as if to brace the pain.

Link's stride hastened to a run and he slipped the necklace wound around his wrist back over his head. In a flash the man was gone, and a loping wolf crossed the Hylian fields.

Sheik watched him go, hatred burning just beneath the surface of his glowing red eyes.

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Zelda's sense of time was warped. It was turning out to be pretty impossible to tell night from day from the confines of a coffin.

Her stomach rolled with the silent waves that rocked her prison, feeling acutely nauseous from both the absence of nourishment and the ceaseless motion of her encasement. She had no idea how long she'd been awake, since the seconds were ticking by like hours, but she was starting to feel frustratingly faint from the lack of oxygen.

She had to have been sealed away for at least a few hours if she was already feeling the effects of thinning oxygen, Zelda deduced. Perhaps more. She hadn't the faintest idea how fast she was being transported, which left her with little to no idea as to where exactly she was. A day out of Kakariko and presumably in a body of water, where could that possibly leave her?

"Lake Hylia is frozen over and the rivers are almost completely sealed off," The duchess mused aloud, elegant dark lashes shutting over her azure eyes.

Vision would do her no good in pitch darkness. Zelda ventured to move her fingers and winced at the lancing pain that journeyed up her arm from lack of use. Her muscles were already stiff from disuse.

"Those aren't waves I'm feeling then."

Zelda frowned at that realization though she kept her eyes lightly shut, as if in a peaceful rest. Her mind raced far beyond the borders of her body as she called upon the ever-present and eternally restless flow of chaos trapped within her body.

The chaos, always embodied as a faint white light in her dreams, flowed slowly through her limbs as she summoned it up and out, extending her senses beyond what they had formerly been. Through her hands the chaos flowed hot like magma, molded by her will, slowly easing through the confines of her prison and branching slowly outwards.

The sluggish flow of the magic relayed to her that her cage was three solid inches of what appeared to be some kind of wood, padded with some fabric on the interior that she could not properly identify and did not particularly care to—all that mattered was that it offered little resistance to her magic.

Beyond that, something solid slid against the carved wood of her chamber, easing itself around the wooden case. It flowed like water but was something entirely different, almost like—

"There's too much goddamned sand in this blasted place!" An almost familiar male voice snarled and Zelda's mind immediately conjured up the image of blood-red eyes.

Zelda's eyes flew open and with a powerful _snap_ the chaos recoiled like an elastic band, sealing itself away in that unknown place again. Like acidic residue the traces of magic in her blood burned hotly. The brunette hissed faintly at the familiar pain, silently cursing herself for her thoughtless reflex.

_Of course,_ that man would still be there, she had been _kidnapped_ by him, after all.

There had been no reason to react so carelessly and leave the chaos in her blood, which was a mistake that could compromise her chances of escape with frustrating ease. Taking a deep breath to compose herself, Zelda tentatively reached back into that unknown place, delving once more into the chaos, carefully channeling it through herself once more and soothing the burn to a dull warm throb.

With the borrowed sight of the magic Zelda could make out three people around her—guards?—two figures far up ahead, and a few inscrutable structures just behind the case she was being towed around in. What she had initially thought to be a vast plane of water appeared to be the interior of a hollowed out tree, filled with sand that oozed and flowed like water.

Taking another steadying breath, Zelda reached out and brushed against the consciousness of a rather skittish looking young boy who was helping to haul her cage along. At the first gentle touch there was no reaction and the duchess cautiously continued forth, probing at the mind of the young man for a conscious reaction.

There was none.

Holding her breath Zelda reached further, delving into the boy's chain of memories. Initially there was no real coherency to what she was seeing, merely images that flashed through her mind, seemingly disjointed and unrelated. However, a certain stream of images flashed repetitively across her mind's eye, drawing her attention to the series of impressions.

_A wolf. A crowded market. A young girl named Ilia. Someone running. Guards. The wolf again. A young man, brave, strong, and silent. Red eyes. A cave. A desert. A forest. A fortress. A hero. A job. A threat. A duchess—_herself.

Zelda withdrew from the boy's mind, frowning as she attempted to make some sense of the images that had just assailed her. Red eyes likely symbolized the man whom had been on the other side of the door. Red eyes were a signature of the Sheikah clan who ruled over the deserts to the south, so perhaps the Sheikah had ordered for her to be kidnapped—the job. But why?

Though she was connected to the royal family, Zelda would not gather much of a ransom or serve much use as a hostage in such trying times. Her cousin Midna would surely have served as a much better target.

"A warning." Zelda breathed with dawning realization as she ran a hand over her face. "Are they trying to start a war?"

Zelda called back the chaos she had sent forth, pulling it slowly back into the confines of her vessel and then further back. Her hands warmed as the energy flowed back into her, soothingly slow, bringing a dull liquid heat back into her veins as it retreated further. It coursed throughout her body, slowly directing itself upwards and then gradually dissipating back into that unknown place. As the magic receded, Zelda sighed pleasantly, the warmth and the faint flow of the mysterious entity through her veins lulling her into a temporary state of false security.

Her eyes remained peacefully shut, the faintest ghost of a smile curling the edges of her dry cracked lips upwards. Her breathing evened out slightly, almost as if she were entering a light slumber. Zelda forced herself to open her eyes, her body sluggish and unresponsive as a drug-like result of the fading chaos.

As the last traces began to leave her mind and the duchess returned her former state of alertness she was immediately jarred into panic by another presence. A sharp stab of pain coursed through her temple and she grit her teeth against the painful stabbing sensation.

Zelda was blinded once more by the darkness just as her mind was assaulted with the image of a pair of vivid blue eyes, flashing with anger. Her hands clutched at her dress out of pure reflex and she cried out at the sudden invasion. At a closer look, the eyes were a royal blue color mixed with liquid cobalt and filled with mirror-like shards of ash gray.

Discernible, albeit dulled, through her holding chamber she heard the red-eyed man abruptly begin to bark instructions at the company he was traveling with. In the span of a few seconds light flooded into her prison and Zelda shut her eyes tightly. Her nerves screamed in protest at the sudden assault on her eyes as her pupils dilated and contracted wildly in an effort to adjust to the barrage of light.

Unmerciful hands clutched at her arms and Zelda stumbled awkwardly for balance in the sand as she was pitched unceremoniously forward by the red-eyed man and a host of strangers she did not try to identify.

Even as the duchess opened her eyes and her surroundings began to register, those vivid hostile eyes remained. Her reality was blurred with the illusion making the world around her an indiscernible mess. The brunette grimaced as she attempted to make some sense of the images being relayed to her just as another stabbing pain shot through her temple.

Instinct pushed her and she broke into a run to escape the mental assault. The eyes gave chase, her head throbbing as if being struck by an invisible dagger that drove relentlessly into her temples but failed to draw blood.

Frenzied din filled the background as shouting broke out amongst the host of strangers, followed by the grating sound of metal scraping against metal. The hot sand burned wherever it came in contact with her, causing lancing pain to engulf her legs. Blindly she ran, stumbling awkwardly through the restraining sand and sliding fruitlessly in piles of shifting sand as she struggled to find purchase in the carved interior of the wooden chamber.

As she fell upon some solid structure, Zelda's hands groped desperately at the wooden holds of stairs long forgotten for purchase. Skin scraped off of her fingers in painful peels against the unyielding unvarnished wood and the raw flesh was fast exposed the searing hot sand that flowed around it. Another sharp jab of pain caused her panicked attempts to multiply, resulting in the bloodied stubs of her fingers scraping harshly against ancient wood that was slick with blood.

Zelda choked back a desperate sob, shutting her eyes against the unreal illusion—unable to escape it even when the rest of her world was bathed in darkness and real pain—hot tears gathered in her eyes as burning sand scalded her skin and ground mercilessly against her bloodied and raw flesh.

"Stop!" A voice rang out clearly behind her, pain coloring the voice in angry strikes of gravel, accompanied by a faint waver of fear. "That's enough! No more. No more. No more. Stop, now."

_Do you submit?_

Another voice—foreign—rang out in her mind. The voice was wholly unfamiliar to her and held a bored but threatening tone, laced with venom and spite. Zelda's eyes clenched tightly against the tears wrought by the burning sand as the voice penetrated the deepest recesses of her mind, leaving room for little else and blocking out even the vision of those hateful eyes.

There was a length of pregnant silence, finally filled by an angry growl that resonated in her head.

_Let them go, Sheikah. Do not test me._

Unquestionable authority, was the first thought that leapt to her mind. The voice was deep and low, not unlike the shadowy whispers of the rivers as they moved quietly against the banks of the land, and held a course edge that was frankly terrifying—but somehow gentle.

"How surprisingly civil of you," The man scoffed and Zelda's eyes flew open as she was yanked quickly back into reality, hissing as her senses were once more assaulted with pain.

There was another resounding clang as metal struck metal, and then the creaking and painful sound of something breaking.

"Very well, I submit to you… yet again." The words were muttered angrily and with a speed that left little room for comprehension.

Zelda scarcely had time to think before a painful hand landed on her upper arm, none too carefully yanking her up off the scalding sand and the limited security of the bloodied steps. The stabbing pain was gone, replaced by the full weight of the burns that covered her legs and arms and the painful stinging of her bloodied hands.

Yet despite the pain, she could not hold back a startled gasp as she was presented with the full profile of the red-eyed man.

Thick and unruly locks of snowy white hair covered his head, haphazardly pushed back from his face. It appeared to be held in place by naught but tangles and dried sweat. The left side of his face was covered in angry looking pink scar tissue, distorting his features into a twisted and hideous mask. His lips curved upwards in a cruel sneer and his eyebrows formed two dramatic downwards slashes on the bronze skin of his unscarred flesh. His blood-stained eyes crinkled down at her in cruel amusement.

"Would you look at that? The little fox has been crying." His tone was mockingly sympathetic and his lips parted to reveal two rows of unusually pointed teeth and chipped canines.

The red-eyed man drew a dirt-stained hand across the skin of her cheek, his callused fingers smearing the dried salt and sand mixture into her skin. The raw and irritated skin blazed an angry red.

"Let me go." Zelda commanded, doing her best to make herself authoritative. It would not have been a difficult task but that her feet were no longer touching the ground, her hair was a knotted mess crusted with granulated rock and debris, her skin was covered in burns, and her hands were a mottled and bloody mess. "You agreed to let me go."

Her teeth ground together and she clenched her eyes tightly as the red-eyed man's grip became bruising and he laughed. Waves of tangled golden brown hair spilled out from her hasty up-do and came down to just below her shoulder blades, strands of rebellious hair falling over her face and obscuring her vision partially. Zelda defiantly opened her eyes and met the amused gaze of her captor, idly wondering how exactly he'd gotten the hideous scar that deformed his face.

"You?" The man gave another short bark of laughter. "No, no, _you_ were the only one that He _ordered_ me to take."

He flashed his cruel and pointed teeth at her once more and Zelda's startled azure eyes immediately sought out a broken cage and five bodies fleeing the immediately area. Her heart broke as she caught of the glimpse of the small Aryll being ushered along by the portly market woman, a young farmer's son bumbling through the scalding sand, and—

"West!" A familiar female voice cried out just as a strikingly familiar redheaded woman wrapped her arms around the torso of the red-eyed man and yanked him back hard. "She's _injured_, you lout!"

"Malon," The red-eyed man—West—sighed in a nonplussed manner and glowered down at the young heiress. "Why the hell should it matter? Let go, you damn woman!"

"She won't survive to retrieve the relic if she's injured," Malon admonished, relinquishing her hold on the scar-faced young man and stepping back with a smug expression on her face. "Moron. Why didn't you cry 'uncle' sooner?"

"Shit. Shut up woman." West hissed as he all but flung Zelda down onto the safety of the wooden stairs. "Get me some fucking bandages. And a healer."

The brunette lay against the steps, her body strewn awkwardly against them, cheek pressed into the wood as she tried to regain her composure. The stinging pain of her hands and burnt limbs dulled into nothing more but a faint ache as a much sharper and more poignant pain assailed her. Her hot and angry tears had long since dried, leaving hurt azure eyes and salt trails upon Zelda's face.

"You betrayed me." She managed to hoarsely whisper, her voice filled with a note of disbelief as Malon seated herself nonchalantly on the steps next to her. "You're a traitor to Hyrule. Your fiancé—"

"I never had one," Malon said, shrugging as if it weren't a matter of any importance.

With a sugary shrug of her nose the woman tossed a bundle of gauze at Zelda, which the duchess barely managed to catch with her mangled hands.

"We're a little short on time, Zel, so hurry it up. I kinda value my life, you know? This place is known to be a little unpredictable. Messy. So typical of mythical places. Pain in the ass, really."

"The hollowed tree." Zelda said, her brows drawing into a sharp frown as she shakily pushed herself up from the stairs into a half-sitting position. "The seas of sand. Royalty of the ancient lineage. This is—"

"The Temple of the Dead," West supplied, his lips forming a crooked grin as he came to stand in front of her once more, a scimitar held casually over his right shoulder. "Home of Tzėnmir, or at least his remains, you're probably more familiar with it as—"

"You want me to take—"

"Fate's Hourglass." The white-haired man paused, as if considering some other option. After a moment's pause knelt down so that his scarred face was a scant few inches from her own and his crooked smile and blazing red eyes were all that filled her vision.

"Or," He said cheerily. "You die right here and right now…"

"Kill me," Zelda spat, her features contorted in a mask of indignation, fear, confusion, and rage. "I would rather die than betra—"

"…and leave Hyrule to destroy itself in a civil war when it's left without an heir. The royal family disappeared late last night. We couldn't pass up the opportunity to take the sole living inheritor for ourselves."

The blood drained from Zelda's face and she drew in a pained breath, azure eyes shutting tightly once more. West continued cheerfully on, still grinning.

"But that's your call. So how do you want to do this, princess? Dead or alive?"

* * *

**A/N: **And so our story begins! If you're reading this, please do me the courtesy of leaving a review behind. They let me know how I'm doing and what you guys are liking about the story. They also tell me what I can work on and what you guys _aren't _liking. Furthermore, they just make me want to write more for you.

Expect an update in the next two weeks.


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